Long-distance
by Rivendell101
Summary: NaLu Week Day 1: Gift. Long-distance relationships can be hard. It doesn't take long for Natsu and Lucy to realize this.


**AN: Day 1 NaLu prompt. Gift. Enjoy! It's a little limy at the end? Maybe? I'm not quite sure, but I don't think that it's anything M worthy, if you think I should change it, leave it in your review.**

**Long-distance**

**{It seems farther than ever before.}**

"You've got to be kidding me," Lucy whispers, staring up at him incredulously. "Natsu, is this your idea of a joke?" she hisses at him, glaring and trying hard not to cry, because she _knows_ that he isn't joking, but she wishes he was.

"Of course I'm not joking," Natsu replies, looking down at the girl in his arms. He and Lucy have been dating since their Sophomore year in high school, and now graduation is right around the corner. He curls his arms tighter around his girlfriend, dragging her down to lie on top him on the couch. "What? Aren't you happy for me?" he asks, only half teasing her. He doesn't know whether to be slightly disappointed that she doesn't sound happy, or if he should feel bad, because, honestly, he really should have told her about this earlier, he just didn't know how to.

Lucy sighs and cups his face in her hands, giving him a sweet, chaste kiss. "Of course I'm happy for you," she murmurs against his jaw, lips trailing across his cheek. "It's just—Minstrel? We're never going to see each other." Her voice cracks as she says it and he runs his hand up her back soothingly.

"Of course we'll see each other," he coos gently, kissing her temple and then her chin. "Do you think I thought about this?" He kisses down her neck, lips just barely ghosting over her skin. "I have a plan." She flinches slightly. He has a plan? Just how long has he known that he's going to be studying abroad in Minstrel?

"How long have you known about this?" she asks, feeling something like betrayal prickling at her. "Natsu, how long have you know about this," she repeats, voice suddenly loud in the otherwise silent room. Natsu doesn't say anything, he just keeps tracing nonsensical patterns across her skin. "Natsu—"

"They accepted me back in September," he says, smiling sadly against her jaw, his nose pressing against her cheek apologetically. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to go, because that would mean leaving you," he confesses, one hand grasping her hip roughly. "I've always loved traveling though. Seeing new places and meeting new people, I love it." He pushes his nose further into her skin. "I decided that this is where I want to go, back in October." She breathes in sharply and starts to pull away from him. "Lucy, please, just listen to me. I don't want to leave you, I just—"

"Seven months?" she spits at him, glaring down at him furiously. Her eyes are watery and he feels horrible, because she's about to start crying, and it's all his fault. "You've known about this for seven months and you're just telling me this now?" He can see the hurt on her face, and that kills him a little bit inside. "Let go," she demands, referring to his hands holding onto her hips like they're a lifeline.

"Lucy—" he starts as she rips herself away from him. By the time he stands up, she's already half way across the room, walking towards the door. "Lucy, wait," he shouts at her, crossing the room in three strides. He's always been particularly happy about how short Lucy is compared to him, but he never thought it would be useful, except for when he's trying to keep things out of her reach. His hands wraps around hers and she whirls on him.

"No," she snarls. "Natsu, I wouldn't be half as mad at you right now if you would have just told me," she screams. She presses her hand over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. "You should have just told me," she whispers, tears running down her cheeks.

"I know," he says back, just as softly, "and I'm so sorry I didn't tell you, Lucy. I just didn't know how." He wraps his arms around her as tightly as he can, burying his face in her hair. "I'm so sorry."

She sighs and nuzzles into his chest, holding him back just as furiously. "So, what now?" she asks, her words muffled by his shirt. "Do we break up after graduation, or do we do it now?"

"Who said anything about us breaking up?" he murmurs against her.

Lucy just clings to him tighter. "Natsu, long-distance relationships hardly ever work out."

"Then we'll make it work," he tells her, squeezing her tightly. "We can call and text, I'll Skype you every night, hell, I'll even write," he promises, leaning back and then kissing her furiously. "I'm not going to let something like distance rip us apart."

* * *

"Do you have everything?" she asks, poking and prodding him everywhere, hands finally settling on his jacket, straightening it. "We can always go back," she says, hands still clutching his jacket tightly. "You can cancel the flight and take a later one."

He smiles down at her sadly and wraps his arms around her, holding her as if he wouldn't see her again in years. "You know I can't do that," he murmurs against her skin, inhaling her scent for the last time in a long time. "I wish I could, Lucy, but I can't." She doesn't say anything back, only nods against him.

Natsu had been furious when he found out that the College in Minstrel he would be attending in the fall, wanted the students to be there by the middle of July. What makes things even worse, is the fact that there are only two flights scheduled for Minstrel in the upcoming month. The first is today, June thirtieth, and the second is July twentieth, which would make Natsu a week late. He _has_ to leave today, there's no other option.

"I love you," Lucy whispers. "I just want you to know that." She gives his waist a gentle squeeze, and tries to keep herself from crying, but then laughs as he squeezes her back twice as hard, lifting her feet right off the ground. Her legs dangle uselessly and Natsu shows no sign of putting her down anytime soon.

He smiles at her softly as she drapes her arms around his neck loosely. Natsu has one arm wrapped tightly around her waist, the other holding her legs in place so that he doesn't drop her. "I love you too," he says seriously, before leaning forward and kissing her roughly. This is the last time they'll be able to hold each other for awhile, so he's going to make it mean something. "I'm sorry I can't be here for your birthday," he mumbles against her lips. "So, happy early Birthday, Baby Girl."

She scoffs at him, but her lips twitch up in a big smile. "Eww, I thought we promised not to do pet names," she jokes. He laughs with her for a moment, and then her smile dims. "It's not going to be very 'happy' without you here," she says quietly. His smile disappears as well, and he buries his face in her neck, he fingers sifting through his hair gently. "I guess everything does come in threes." He winces and presses her closer to his chest.

Lucy has never had a lot of people to celebrate with. Her mother died when she was ten, because of cancer, and it was only a few days after her birthday. Her father died in a car accident two years ago on her birthday, when she turned sixteen. Now Natsu is leaving too.

"Hey," he coos, placing soft kisses against her neck and jaw. "I'm coming back," he promises, nipping her skin lightly. "I'm coming back _to you_," he repeats, emphasizing the last two words. He places her back on her feet and brushes her hair away from her face. "Are the girls panning anything for tomorrow?"

Lucy grins. "Yeah, I think they're planning me a surprise party." She goes back to fiddling with his jacket. "It must have been easy considering they haven't had to distract me, since I've been with you pretty much twenty-four-seven." Natsu just nods, a low sound rumbling in his chest.

"What makes you think they're planning a party?"

She laughs. "Well, for one thing, Juvia's been acting strange all week, and not her normal kind of strange." Natsu chuckles and buries his face against her hair. "And second, I found a box of streamers in the fridge two days ago. Juvia tried to convince me that they were for a papier-mâché class, but I could tell that she was lying."

"Why would a box of streamers be in the fridge?" he muses against her ear, smiling as she laughs.

"You know how Erza gets when she panics," she replies.

After Lucy's father died, she started renting an apartment with their friend Juvia, who is also an orphan. Natsu actually likes Juvia, she's kind of like a quirky sister. Then, there's Erza and Levy, two of Lucy's other female friends, Evergreen, his friend Elfman's on-again-off-again girlfriend, and Mira and Lisanna, Elfman's two sisters. Natsu get's along with the girls rather well, and the feeling is mutual. He had jokingly been invited to several slumber parties in middle school and high school, and the other guys liked to tease him about that, but he didn't mind. Natsu has a lovely girlfriend and he gets along with her friends, how is that a bad thing?

A loud boarding call for Natsu's flight has them splitting apart, and Lucy looks up at him sadly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

Natsu can't wipe the stupid smile off his face, then again, he doesn't really want to anyway. "I'm sorry, Lucy, it was an accident." She sends him a dark look, and he laughs at her bed head. He feels bad, honestly, he does. He didn't mean to wake her up. That doesn't mean that he doesn't find it funny though.

She rolls her eyes. "How do you accidently wake someone up at seven in the morning, Natsu?" she asks. "And on a Saturday too!" She huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at him, but he can see the hint of a smile on her lips. "Don't you dare try and blame this on the time zones either, it's been four months already."

His heart squeezes painfully in his chest. It _has_ been four months already. It's been four months since he's been able to hold his girlfriend, and that kills him a little bit inside. Sometimes he forgets that she isn't there with him. He'll be talking to someone, or he'll see something, and he _whirls_ around to joke with Lucy about it, only to realize that she isn't there.

That hurts. It hurts a lot.

He misses it, the little things mostly, touching her and kissing her. Just being able to hold her hand, or feel her breath on his neck. He misses their limbs being tangled together when they fall asleep on the couch, and the way she would gasp when he nibbles on her neck in just the right place. He misses hugging her.

Natsu shakes the thoughts away, a lump the size of a golf ball welling up in his throat. "You've always been a morning person," he argues. "We used to wake up and watch Saturday morning cartoon all the time."

Her lips twitch up in a smile. "Yeah, that was when we were sixteen and, you know, _not_ college zombies." He laughs with her, and, without meaning to, places his hand on his computer screen. "Oh God, don't do that!" He really just wants to reach through the screen and touch her but he _can't_. "It's like some giant hand is trying to grab me." Both of them laugh again, but Natsu sobers up almost instantly.

They're over three thousand miles away from each other. A computer screen is as close to one another as they can get, and that hurts. Natsu doesn't know how else to put in, other than it _really hurts_. That's all there is to say. Being away from _her_ hurts him, and he only has himself to blame for it. He didn't have to go to school in Minstrel, no, he _chose_ to. And he can't do anything about that.

"I really miss you, you know that?" He looks up at the screen in front of him, but Lucy isn't looking at him. "I miss seeing you everyday," she admits.

Natsu laughs, but it sounds bitter, even to him. There is nothing funny about what she said, but it looks like she's about to start crying, and right now Natsu can't handle that, because he can't hold her like he normally does, he can't be there for her like he always is.

"What do you mean, Lu?" he tries to joke. "We see each other everyday." His smile falls flat, and he cringes as a tear runs down the side of her face.

She shakes her head and let's out a little noise that sounds more like a sob than a laugh. "But it's not the same, is it?" she asks rhetorically. "You're so far away, and every time I turn off my computer I feel like I'm never going to see you again, because you're not really here." She sobs again and more tears follow.

"Lucy," he whispers. "Hey, don't cry, Baby Girl." She looks up at him and just shakes her head sadly. "Hey, hey look at me," he demands gently. She meets his eyes. "It's okay, I'm right here. I am right here," he promises. "Everything is okay."

"Everything is _not_ okay," she shouts, slamming her hand down on the table she's sitting at. "Nothing about this is okay," she snarls, "so don't you dare say it is." She's crying harder now, and he has no idea what to do. "Natsu, this is horrible," she murmurs.

"I know," he concedes, "but I'm coming back to you, don't forget that."

* * *

Lucy cringes as one of those stupid party kazoos goes off right next to her ear, and Natsu laughs at her. "You wipe that smirk off your face, Natsu Dragneel," she growls at him.

"Give me a break, Lucy," he whines lowly, trying not to smile. "It's New Years!" He sighs heavily and rests his head on his hand. "Well, for you it is, for me it was twelve hours ago," he grumbles. On the other side of the screen Lucy frowns and looks away from him. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it home for Christmas," he says softly, knowing that she can still hear him over the loud music in her apartment.

He watches as his friend Jellal pulls Erza into a quick kiss, and he realizes how awful it must be for Lucy. It seems like after he left, all of their friends started pairing up and dating, and Lucy had to be there for all of it. Natsu is only seeing it now, but there's still a bitter taste in his mouth because of it. Lucy must be absolutely done with it.

Lucy smiles at his, but he can see how fake it is. "It's okay, Natsu." No, it's not okay. He knows it, she knows it, and they both know that the other knows it too. "I get it. Plane tickets are expensive, especially this time of year," she continues more for her sake, than his. She can tell he feels horrible right now, and, honestly, she feels horrible too. All of their friends are behind her having a great time, drinking and dancing with their significant other, and hers is thousands of miles away. She absolutely _hates_ it, but it's not his fault that he couldn't make it. She knows that he wants to be here too, but circumstances wouldn't allow it.

"That's no excuse, Lucy," he argues, crossing his arms over his chest sourly. "I should be there right now. You and I both know that." He notices her staring at him sadly and forces a smile on his face. "So, how's the party going?" he asks. He had already said hello to everyone else earlier, and right now he just wants to know how his favorite girl is doing.

"Pretty good," she replies, half laughing. "I'm kind of shocked actually," she admits. "There haven't been any drunken fist fights yet, and everyone has managed to keep there clothes on so far." She smiles at him brightly, and he sends her a heart stopping grin back.

"Even Gray," he jokes, secretly shocked like she is. Their friends aren't exactly the most conservative people on the planet, so someone losing a few articles of clothing wasn't really anything new. In fact, there was one party at Gray's house right after their senior finals, where both he and Lucy lost a few layers while hiding in one of the guest rooms. That had been a night to remember, even though they didn't get very far before Erza and Jellal, obviously having the same idea they did, ended up crashing into the same room.

_That_ had been the most awkward moment of his life so far. Jellal had apologized to them profusely, and Erza hadn't been able to look at them for weeks. Lucy had nearly cried because Jellal had seen her in only her underwear, and Natsu had been pissed off for the same reason.

In the end they had just gone back to his house to watch an X-Men marathon. So it wasn't _too_ bad, but he knew that Lucy was ashamed of herself. She shouldn't have been, but she was. Lucy has always been proud of herself for not being a flimsy girl. She doesn't sleep around, or fall into the arms of every guy that walks her way. In fact, Natsu was her first kiss, and that never failed to make him smile.

He watches as Lucy grimaces, and raises an eyebrow in question. She just shakes her head. "No, not Gray." She turns her laptop on the table, and he blanches as he catches a look of Gray dancing in nothing but his underwear and right sock. The screen goes back to Lucy and she laughs. "So how was your night?"

"Good," he says. "I went to a party with my roommate," he tells her. "It was fun." He watches as Lucy's smile disappears.

"Did you drink?" she asks softly, eyes piercing his.

Lucy isn't fond of alcohol. Her father was killed after being hit by a drunk driver, and since then she's hated it. That's why she sometimes didn't get along with their friend Cana. The girl is a huge drinker and Lucy won't touch alcohol. On New Years Eve last year, Cana tried to spike Lucy's drink and Lucy found out. There had practically been a screaming match between the two girls, and eventually Natsu and Gray had to pull them apart when things started to get violent.

Natsu shakes his head. "No." He knows that Lucy would never fault him for drinking, but he won't do it if it makes her uncomfortable. Her eyes widen a fraction, and he smiles at her.

Lucy opens her mouth to say something, but bursts into a fit of laughter as she notices something behind him. Utterly confused, Natsu whirls around in his seat, and then proceeds to smack himself in the face as he notices his still hung-over roommate stumbling towards the kitchen in only his bright pink underwear with little kittens on them.

"Lucy," Natsu says, trying not to laugh, "this is Sting." He glances over his shoulder. "Sting, this is Lucy."

"Hey," Lucy greets, waving and trying not to laugh. "I'm the girlfriend," she tells him.

Sting blushes slightly and scratches his stomach awkwardly. "Hi. I'm the roommate." He looks down. "And I should probably put some pants on," he says. Lucy laughs in agreement, and Natsu isn't able to wipe the smile off his face.

* * *

Lucy isn't sure how it happened. One moment she and Natsu were arguing about something or other—possibly about how he's been acting distant lately and that scares her, because there thousands of miles away from each other, and she knows what happens when someone starts acting distant in a long-distance relationship—and the next some girl was walking into Natsu's dorm room and hugging him from behind.

And she tries not to jump to conclusions. Really, she tries, but that's sort of hard to do when some girl is _hugging her boyfriend_ and _he's not doing anything to stop her_. Lucy is not the jealous type, not at all. Natsu is his own person and he can hug whoever he wants, she doesn't dictate his life. She should be fine with this girl hugging Natsu, and she would be, if the girl wasn't draped all over him and giving her a dark look.

She trusts Natsu though, so she knows that there isn't anything going on between them—there _can't be_, because what would she do if there is? She shouldn't even be thinking like that, but she can't help it and it makes her feel awful in so many ways.

She realizes that none of them have said anything yet, and the other girl is still holding onto Natsu as if he belongs to her, and Lucy realizes that she should probably say something before she explodes. "Umm, hello," she says awkwardly, eyes flicking back and forth between Natsu and the short, dark haired girl that still looks overly smug.

"Hi," the short girl says in sickly sweet voice. Lucy almost flinches, because she suddenly has a really bad feeling about this—almost. "I'm Lamy, Natsu's _really_ good friend." Lucy doesn't like the way she emphasizes the word "really", but she doesn't point it out.

"Oh," she says, realizing just who this girl is. She's Natsu's biology partner. "Natsu's mentioned you a few times before," Lucy states softly, then smiles. "I'm Lucy," she tells the girl. "Natsu's girlfriend."

Lamy sends her a confused look, and Lucy feels her heart drop down to her stomach. "Really? He's never mentioned you," Lamy comments. "In fact, he never mentioned having a girlfriend at all." Her breath catches in her throat and she feel tears well up in her eyes. Natsu looks horrified, but the look worsens in an instant. "Natsu, after everything we've done, you should have told me about your girlfriend at least once." She shoots Lucy a poisonous look. "She could have joined us."

Natsu's eyes flash over to hers. "Lucy—"

She all but slams her laptop shut, tears streaming down her face. She knows that she should have let him talk, she should have let him explain things to her, but she doesn't want to hear it. She doesn't want to know why he would hurt her like that, in fact it doesn't even cross her mind that Lamy could have been lying. All she knows is that Natsu has been acting strange for several weeks now, and some girl walked into his dorm—she had her own _key_ to his _dorm room_—and was practically all over him, and he never once tried to stop it.

A sob rips out of her throat and she sinks down to the floor slowly. She should have known that this would happen. Long-distance relationships never work out in the end. You can't have a relationship with someone over a computer, you just can't.

Her phone starts to ring in her pocket and, as soon as she notices that it's Natsu calling, she throws it across the room, watching as it hits the wall with a dull thud and drops to the floor. She wishes that it didn't have a case on it, she wishes that it would have broken, because her phone is still ringing, and it's _their_ song playing. "Wherever You Will Go" is playing and suddenly she never wants to hear it again.

She doesn't even notice when Levy and Gajeel run into the room, she can't see them through her tears, and she just want all of it to stop. Levy is saying something to her, but she isn't listening, and she can feel Gajeel's hand running up and down her back in what's _supposed_ to be a soothing gesture, but she doesn't want it. She doesn't want that touch, because it feels like something Natsu would do, and she doesn't even want to think about Natsu right now.

He lied to her. He said he would never hurt, that he would always protect her. He told her that he _loves_ her.

He lied.

* * *

It's two days later when Lucy finally opens her laptop again and notices that the call never ended. It's been two days since she's seen him, and normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but right now it feels like a lifetime. She refused to answer his calls or texts, and when he called Levy and she gave Lucy her phone to try and get them to talk, Lucy almost smashed it, screaming at Levy about something she can't remember.

It had not been a good two days, but Lucy decided earlier that morning that they needed to figure things out.

He's still sitting right where she left him. His rose colored hair is a mess and there's stubble on his jaw and his eyes are red and she can see the bags under his eyes. He probably hadn't slept in the two days that she had been ignoring him, not that she had slept very well either. If it wasn't for the shirt he's wearing—her favorite shirt, the old Breaking Benjamin one that he got at a concert they went to when they were sixteen—if it wasn't for the shirt she wouldn't be able to tell that he had moved in those two days.

He doesn't notice her right away, he's too busy staring at his fingers, which are tapping away at the table he's sitting at, a nervous habit of his. When he does see her he has to do a double take, not sure if she's real or not.

"Lucy," he breaths out, voice cracking. "I—"

"We need to talk," she cuts in harshly, trying not to cry in front of him. He doesn't say anything, so she assumes it's safe to continue and he's listening. "I get it, Natsu," she says, tucking some of her hair behind her ear. "I do. You've always been a physical person, you like knowing that people are there, and I haven't been _there_."

"Lucy," he whimpers.

She ignores him. "I just—why couldn't you have broken up with me first? Why did you have to cheat on me?" She honestly just wants to cry.

"Lucy," he repeats. "You don't get it at all." She looks up for the first time in the conversation and realizes that he's _crying_. "Lamy likes me, and I have told her countless times that I have a beautiful girlfriend that I love with all my heart." She bites her lip so hard that it starts to bleed. "I never once cheated on you," he promises. "Not with Lamy, and not with any other girl."

"Really?" Lucy says bitterly. "Because Lamy said that she's never even heard about me."

"Lucy, I talk about you all the time," he grinds out, hands clenching into fists and knotting through his hair. "I talk about you so much that I think some of the guys are starting to get sick of it." from behind him she hears something that vaguely sounds like "it's true", but she ignores it. "I have never even looked at any girl here, not the same way I look at you."

She just shakes her head sadly. "And why should I believe you?" she whispers, choking on a cry.

"Because Lamy's done this before," someone behind Natsu says. A tall blond with a bandana around his neck, steps up behind Natsu. "Name's Jackal," he tells her. "Lamy and I went to high school together, and for awhile I was dating this girl named Kat, but she ended up transferring schools after she moved. She lived about an hour away, and we used to video chat like you two." He grits his teeth and narrows his eyes. "Lamy started telling Kat that I was cheating on her, but I wasn't, I loved Kat." Jackal looks down, pain in his eyes, and Lucy gets the feeling that he isn't lying. "She broke up with me."

"How do I know you're not lying?" she whispers.

"You don't," Jackal tells her, "but you know your boyfriend better than I do." He leans a little closer to the camera. "So let me ask you. Is this something he would do?" Jackal turns around and walks away as soon as he asks, and Lucy knows that she can believe him.

"Natsu—" she starts.

"Lucy, I love you," he tells her sternly. "I love you so much, and I don't want this to be the reason I lose you." He shakes his head. "I won't let it be. So you have to know that I never lied to you, not ever. And I never meant to hurt you. I love—"

"I love you too," she cuts in. His eyes meet hers and she feels her heart pull itself back together. "I love you too, Natsu."

* * *

"Happy Birthday," she shouts at him through the microphone, smiling at him brightly. He can't believe that he almost lost her to a misunderstanding, but he's glad he didn't. He wouldn't know what to do without her in his life. "How does being nineteen feel?" she jokes. "Do you feel stronger, or older?" She gasps. "Or maybe you've finally become a mature young adult!"

He just rolls his eyes, but he can't wipe the grin off his face. "Haha, you're hilarious, Lucy." He sticks his tongue out at her for good measure and she giggles.

"No, but seriously," she says, leaning back against her headboard. "Happy Birthday, Jerk Face." He scowls at her and she bursts out into loud peals of laughter.

"Jerk Face?" he asks, sounding scandalized. "Sweetheart, I thought we weren't doing pet names," he reminds her. His eyes spark with amusement, and she can't keep the smile off her face either.

"Oh, yeah, because you do a great job at not using pet names," she says sarcastically. "Isn't that right, Baby Girl," she teases, running a hand though her messy hair and yawning.

Natsu isn't sure why she's awake so early, hen he asked she just smiled at him and said "Happy Birthday", so he can only guess that she wanted to be the first one to wish him a Happy Birthday. Not that she needed to. He just got done with classes for the day, so it's only about four in the morning for her, and he actually feels really bad that she woke up super early to be the first one to say Happy Birthday to him, but it makes him really happy too.

"Alright, no," he says, throwing his hands up in the air and pointing a finger at her accusingly. "You don't call me that," he growls at her playfully, trying not to smile. "I call you that."

"Why can't I call you that?" she scoffs, clearly offended.

"Well, for one, I'm not a girl." He ticks it off on his fingers. "And two, you're _my_ girl, that's why I call you that."

"Well," Lucy stumbles over her words. "You're my girl too, Natsu." She laughs at the scowl on his face, and after a few seconds he laughs too, and he can't stop thinking about how much he loves this girl, just seeing her face right now is the best part of his day, it always has been. It also makes him a little bit sad though, because she's not actually here.

"Hey, Lucy?" he whispers, leaning back on the couch. "You know what I really want for my Birthday?" he asks slowly, smiling at her.

She glares at him harshly. "Natsu, for the last time, I am _not_ taking my top off over a webcam," she hisses at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" someone off screen asks them as Natsu flushes. Lucy freezes, her eyes widening.

"Has Sting been there the entire time?" she asks. He grumbles something in affirmative, and Lucy blanches. "You are so lucky I didn't actually take my top off," she shouts at Natsu.

"I didn't ask you to," Natsu shouts back, laughing. "All I was going to say was that I wish you were here," he whispers. "I miss holding you. I miss waking up next to you after marathoning the Lord of the Rings movies." She smiles sadly. "I miss you being here," he tells her.

"Hey," she whispers. "It's okay, you're coming back this summer, so it's only going to be a little bit longer." She notices the guilty look on his face, and with a sinking feeling she realizes what it means. "You're not coming back this summer, are you?" He looks away from her. "What happened?"

"My job," he says. "They wouldn't let me take time off." She nods and he looks at her miserably. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I really want to come back, I really do, but—"

"I get it," she tells him. "I don't like it, but I understand."

"You shouldn't have to," is all he says. "I should be coming home, I shouldn't be here." She doesn't say anything, just stares down at her lap. "I love you, Lucy."

"I love you too."

* * *

"You know what," she screams at him, eyes red and puffy. She's crying and he feels horrible about it, but it's already too late. "I don't even care anymore," she finishes. She fists her hands in her hair, something she always does when she's frustrated. "I'm so sick of caring," she spits off him. "Because you're not coming back," she whispers. "You aren't coming back."

Lucy is so beyond angry right now. It's the third time now. First, it was Christmas last year, then, it was him not being able to come home for the summer. Now it's Christmas this year. It's like he's not even trying to come home anymore, it's like he doesn't _want_ to come home.

She has had enough of it. Neither of them are trying anymore. Half the time it's a struggle trying to get him on the phone, or she's has too much school work to do, or it's finals, or she's helping a friend nurse a nasty hangover, and they just can't keep doing this. They can't.

He snaps, eyes flashing darkly. "Lucy, for the last time, I want to come back, but—"

"But you can't, because of work, or school, or maybe you just don't want to anymore," she finishes for him, glaring. "Why are we even doing this anymore?" she asks. "Why do we even bother? It's been over a year since we've seen each other in person," she mumbles.

They haven't touched each other in over a year. She can't even remember what he smells like anymore. Well, she _knows_ what he smells like. It's something like smoke and cinnamon, something spicy, but sweet. The problem is that she knows what he should smell like, but it's now foreign to her.

The same thing has happened to him too. She smells like cherry blossoms, and almonds, and just a small touch of something dark and citrusy that drives him completely crazy every time he smells it, but it's just a phantom smell now, he hasn't known it for over a year, and he misses it more than anything else in the world.

He also misses holding her in his arms. If nothing else, he just wants to hold her hand again. That's the part he misses the most. The little touches that seem insignificant, they mean the most.

Neither of them say anything for what feels like years. Lucy isn't looking at him, and Natsu doesn't know what to say. It's like their lives have spiraled down. Natsu loves Lucy, he does, and he knows she loves him too, but it's hard, because they live in completely different time zones, and they only get to talk for maybe three hours a day, not even.

Finally Natsu manages to find his voice again. "This?" he whispers, voice cracking.

"This," she agrees. "This, us."

He freezes. Them. He knows why he's staying with her. He loves her, he loves her so much that it actually hurts that she isn't here with him. It hurts a lot, and he hates it. He just wants to go home to her, but he can't. He doesn't have the time, and he knows that's a problem. He needs to have the time for her, but he doesn't. School is killing him, and he can feel the strain in his relationship with Lucy.

"Lucy," he whispers shakily, unsure. "Lucy, look at me, please," he pleads, "come on, Lucy, please just look a me, Baby Girl." She finally does, and his heart clenches painfully in his chest. He never once meant to make her cry, but it seems like that's all he's been doing lately. "I'm not going anywhere," he promises her. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You're right," she says, laughing bitterly. She looks at him with empty eyes. "You already did," she snaps. She shuts down her computer in seconds.

Natsu is so confused. He doesn't know _why_ she's so angry. She had asked him what day it is and he had told her it's Tuesday.

He freezes before leaping to his feet. It can't be that day, can it? He runs over to the calendar on the wall, practically ripping it. It's still stuck on June, but it's September now, he doesn't even know what day it is, but he has a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He stops on September, and there's a date circled in red marker, a little note written there. He feels like an absolute asshole when he realizes what day it really is. "I'm so sorry, Baby Girl," he whispers, self-loathing in his voice.

Lucy sighs heavily, and pulls her knees up to her chest. "By the way," she says to herself, staring down at the computer. "Happy Anniversary, Natsu."

* * *

Lucy sighs and settles down on her couch. It's Christmas Eve, and she's all alone, go figure. Levy is out on a date with Gajeel, and Erza is out with Jellal knitting ugly sweaters for everyone. Gray and Juvia are probably out ice skating, and Elfman and Evergreen are making up from their most recent breakup.

So she's left all alone to watch reruns of bad Christmas episodes of different TV shows. Hurray.

Now, she could be video chatting with her boyfriend, or, maybe ex-boyfriend now, considering they haven't talked for almost three months, but they never actually broke up, so they're technically still dating. Plus, it's not like she's been looking for anyone else to date. She loves Natsu, she really does, but long-distance relationships never work out in the end and she knows that.

From the very first day, she knew it wouldn't work out, but he told her that it would, and she believed him, because maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay in the end.

She wishes that everything could be okay. It's not fair to either of them that things are going to end this way. They've been through so much together, eight years of being friends, ruined by one year of distance. It's not fair.

She reaches for her mug of hot chocolate, but suddenly there's a knock on the door. Lucy just grumbles something under her breath. If it's another salesman trying to get her to buy something stupid, she's going to scream. All she wants to do is curl up and wallow in misery.

She rolls off the couch, and just lies on the ground for a few seconds. The knocking becomes urgent and she finally pushes herself to her feet and drags herself to the door. She unlocks it quickly and the door swings open with the force of the knocking.

"I'm not going to buy whatever you're selling," she snaps, glaring at the person on the other side of the door. Her jaw drops open and she stares at them, not really sure if this is real or not.

It's Natsu. He's covered in snow and dripping all over the place, and he obviously hasn't shaved in a few days, but it's Natsu. He looks like he always does, and she can smell him again. It's all cinnamon and spice, and the smell of a bonfire, and her heart skyrockets in her chest. He's standing right in front of her, and he's real, and he's here, he's right here.

"Wh-what are you—" she cuts herself off. "What are you doing here, Natsu?" she asks, eyes never leaving his.

Natsu swallows and takes a step closer to you. "I'm coming home," he tells her, clearing his throat and taking another step towards her, his skin brushing against hers. "I transferred here." Her eyes widen and his hands rise to rest on her hips. "I'm going to be living here now," he says. "I'll be going to school here as soon as the new semester starts." He leans down, resting his forehead against hers. His breath is nervous on her face, and it sends a shiver down her spine.

"You don't have to do this," she whispers, hands fisting in his shirt. His nose bumps against hers, and her breath catches in her throat.

"I do," he murmurs, lips brushing against hers. "It's either a school in Minstrel that's nowhere near the people I care about, or the love of my life." Then, he kisses her, and her arms fly around his neck.

She doesn't know how it happens, but in the next second her back is pressed against the couch and he's lying on top of her, straddling her, lips moving against hers roughly. Her hands fist in his hair, nails scraping across his skin, and he growls against her mouth, hitching one of her legs over his hips, hand squeezing her thigh.

"I've missed you," he says hoarsely, lips scraping across her jaw and neck roughly, nipping and sucking at several spots. She knows that she's going to have bruises in the morning, and he's going to have some too. It's been too long, and they _need_ this.

She gasps as he bites her neck harshly. It hurts a little bit, and for a second she thinks he might have drawn blood, but she can't say that she doesn't like it, no, she _loves_ it. She loves it when he's like this. "I missed you too," she says, trying to fight back the sounds threatening to leave her throat.

She fails horribly of course, and then his mouth is on hers again, swallowing the little keening cries. He groans against her, and then his tongue is sliding across the seam of her lips, demanding entrance, which she grants easily. His tongue sweeps into her mouth, skimming over the back of her teeth and the roof of her mouth, wrapping around her own.

She gives the intruding appendage a sharp suck and he retaliates by grinding against her sharply, making her gasp again. She tugs at his hair ruthlessly and he snarls, nipping her lower lip. She catches his upper lip between hers, and then he pulls away from her, breathing heavily. She's breathing just as heavily, but that doesn't stop her from leaning up and stealing another kiss, and the air between them is crazy hot, even though it's supposed to be winter.

He leans down again, this time kissing her so gently and sweetly that she feels his lower lip tremble against hers. She doesn't even realize that she's crying until his thumps rub the tears away from her cheeks. She laughs lightly, and pulls him into a tight hug, arms curling around his neck and back.

"I'm sorry I didn't have enough time to get you a Christmas present," he whispers, burying his face against her hair. "I was in a big rush to get here."

She just shakes her head and kisses him again. "You're the best gift I can get," she tells him, laughing at how cliché it sounds. She doesn't care though, she's just glad he's here.

* * *

**AN: Holy crap. This was supposed to be maybe 3,000 words, not freaking 7,000. Here is my contribution to NaLu Week Day 1: Gift. I hope you guys liked it, and be sure to leave a review!**


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